Chroma
by timeel39
Summary: Cartel's album Chroma if interpreted as a concept album, and then that story placed into the Naruto world. Contains lyrics, but not in a standard song-fic format. Updated with song Say Anything Else .


*Say Anything (Else)*

_enter Naruto, Hinata_

Naruto stood on the back porch. He looked out into the world, taking in its wonders. He let his fingers wander until they found their familiar grooves in the wood banister, worn down from years of longing. He inhaled a stale breath, feeling the crisp chill crawl through his body. A shiver jolted him, and he smiled, loving the rush of the cold up his spine. A jingle of keys sounded near his door, and he turned to make his way into the house.

"Love, I'm home."

"I know," he said, walking through his house to greet his girlfriend with a hug and a kiss. "How was work today?"

"Boring, as usual," Hinata said, closing the door behind her. She took off her coat and hung it next to the door, tossed her keys next to the key tray in common fashion, and looked back at Naruto. "How was another day of being free?"

"Good, as usual. Being fired has been great so far," Naruto said, leaning around her to spin the deadbolt, ensuring their security.

"Fantastic. You know we can't live on my salary."

"We can't live here on your salary, Hinata, but we could always move out, go somewhere." Naruto looked into her eyes to see a reaction; one that he hoped was there, one that he always hoped was there. But instead the overused result was found by Naruto, seeing a clenched jaw tighten, temples slightly push out, and hearing her laudable breath through her flared nostrils, one worthy of a prize. Closed eyes, the flutter of her butterfly eyelashes, those Naruto found too long (from frequent abuse of mascara (although he would never confess it to his wife (who was not at good odds with him anyway right now))) released her pressure, as well as her figurative crowbar wrenching open her teeth.

"I'm sick and tired of hearing you talk like some Don Quixote or like, or something, Naruto," Hinata walked around him to sit down in a chair, the one next to the couch.

"If you're implying I'm crazy, it's off base. You know full well I'm not as. But baby, we could get out of here. This is just disappointment after disappointment; it has been since the miscarriage."

"Don't talk about it like that." Hinata spat a look at the floor, holding back and pulling back the tears of a lost child.

"Baby, we could go out and live, be who we want to be. Out there, in the world, is opportunity; out in the world is life!"

Hinata neglected to stand up to look at him. "It's barbaric, being a traveler, a nomad. Think of my parents, what they would think…" her eyes drifted off even more than the end of her sentence, and she found herself eyeing the paneling. She absentmindedly stated: "They already hate me for not marrying you, and just living together."

"Dear, bother them. You are responsible for living your own life." Naruto strode over to the chair, and fondled the back, almost as a massage.

"I don't want to go live on the road, Naruto."

Naruto gripped the chair dreadfully, regrettably due to a staple then found in his thumb. "I know you do, you know you do!"

"Think about my parents! They wouldn't−"

"Bother them! And baby, don't follow that lead, 'cause you never know just how the story ends, or how the story goes!" he emitted, as he swept around to a knee next to her, grasping her hand firmly.

She ripped her hand out of his; "And you do, Love?"

He closed his eyes, pinched them shut to block out her attack.

"And you are so confused; and baby it's just like you to say anything else. Whenever you get this way−just getting up for the letdown; here they come and, yes, they're here to stay−just getting up for the letdown." He moved to her front, now on both knees in a begging position at her legs, piercing his eyes into hers. "Oh I'm here to say that you're the star you wanna be. Just open up and look inside and you will see. Someday you'll sing it out loud, one day this will make you proud."

"I know…" Hinata shifted onto her other cheek, and crossed her legs the other way.

"And baby don't follow that lead, 'cause you never know just how the story ends, or how the story goes; And you are so confused; And baby it's just like you to say anything else. It's time for you to understand, stop getting up for the let down. Oh, who you are is not up to them. Stop getting up for the let down. And I'm here to say that you're the star you wanna be−just open up and look inside, you will see. Someday you'll sing it out loud, one day this will make you proud." He leaned forward to grasp her arms, and sought to look into her eyes. She continued to avert her vision, and made friends with the patterns of the hardwood floor, those ones consisting of faces staring back at her.

"Love, I know…" She said.

"Someday you'll sing it out loud, one day this will make you proud." Naruto made sure she heard him that time.

She shot a look at him, staring through his head and into his mind: "Love, I know."

"'I know' is never good enough. So say what you want."

"You know you're wasting all my time," Hinata asserted, sitting up straighter.

"Gotta mean it when you say what you want; (you're only safe when you're alone). And everybody's on your mind; saying anything to get you by." Naruto seemed a little taller while saying this. "And so to get what you want−"

"You know you're wasting all my time."

"You gotta mean it; (you're only safe when you're alone)."

Hinata found her voice and the courage to stand up. She was very commanding, and looked down upon his groveling form. "And when you say what you want, you're wasting everybody's time; you're saying anything that gets you by. It's not, not, not gonna get you, gonna get you by."

Naruto stood up, now almost a full head taller than the girl. His voice held an air of power, with a deep feeling of love though, as he played out: "Someday you'll sing it out loud, one day this will make you proud."

Hinata feebly shrank, "I know, dear…"

"'I know' is never good enough. Someday you'll sing it out loud, one day this'll make you proud."

"I know, I know."

"'I know' is never good enough." Naruto ended on a tone of anger and frustration. "When will you understand, baby, that this will never work, this house, this constraint? Open your eyes!"

"They are open! You're the blind one, Naruto!"

Naruto walked around her, through the living room, into their bedroom, and sat down on the bed. He looked at the clock and at the closet. "We can't live here on her salary. She can. She can live here happily, and invite her parents over. We can't live here. She can."

_exeunt_


End file.
